This work investigates the rapid and complex transition of England and Wales from the Commonwealth of Oliver Cromwell to the reestablished monarchy between 1658 and 1667. Ronald Hutton, a specialist in British history, utilizes an extensive array of public and private manuscript sources to reconstruct the political and religious landscape of this decade. He argues that the transformation was not a singular event but a series of interactions between national policy, local governance, and competing social factions.

Historians recognize this work as a definitive account of the Restoration period due to its rigorous use of primary source material. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose, which provides a comprehensive view of the era's administrative and religious shifts.